Healer
by edmalldayandnight
Summary: Pulled into Narnia by a painting, Edmund becomes acquainted with the shy, awkward, but oh-so-beautiful Eni, who is the healer-in-residence of the Dawn Treader. Despite her nervousness and his position of hierarchy they tumble head first into an adventure, from which something much deeper begins to blossom. Ed x OC, VotDT, movieverse.
1. Chapter 1

He was drowning.

The thought came to him quite simply, just like that, and – oddly – he didn't panic but simply weighed this fact in his mind with an amount of measured interest. The sea was very _blue_ was another thought, and very _dark_. Edmund, like many other similarly-aged boys, had been swimming at the local baths and hadn't cared for them much. The chlorine stung his eyes and offended his nose. However he'd never swum in the sea – at least, not like this – and he would rather have enjoyed it if it weren't for the fact that:

He was in very, very deep.

There was a disturbing lack of oxygen in his lungs.

He'd bashed his head against something, and his lip felt uncomfortably fat.

He should have been quarrelling with his cousin Eustace in a small terraced house in Putney.

And then, suddenly, a mere few seconds after the thought occurred to him, the ocean was much lighter and his legs worked much faster. Before his mind even had time to disregard his initial statement, his head was breaking the surface and he was wheezing, drawing oxygen into his lungs with huge, greedy gasps. Flicking his hair to free it from some of the seawater he spun around, noting the bobbing heads of Lucy and Eustace, mouths gaping like fish. But perhaps more importantly, he noticed a huge ship – surely the one from his aunt's treasured painting – sailing magnificently a mere few metres from him. And before he'd even seen the prince – Caspian – waving to them from high up on the deck, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he and his sister and indeed his cousin had landed themselves back in Narnia.

A few minutes later, Ed was being hoisted up onto the boat he now knew to be the Dawn Treader. Caspian embraced him almost immediately despite the fact Edmund was dripping; the crew cheered as the prince announced the title of the King and his sister. It was only after thin white towels were being draped across their shoulders that anyone drew attention to the fact Edmund's lower lip was split and dribbling blood down onto his chin.

Caspian, throwing an arm round his shoulders, clumsily grabbed the edge of the towel and dabbed at his friend's chin, shaking his head. "How did you do this?" he asked, smiling. "Never mind. We have a healer, of sorts, on the boat. Down below deck. Last door, on the right. Be back soon." Waving slightly, he turned to Lucy and struck up a conversation; Edmund was left to wander over to the trapdoor and descend into the depths by himself. The last thing he saw – well, more specifically, heard – was the _thump _of his hapless cousin falling onto the deck in a dead faint, and the uproarious, minotaurial laughter that followed.

The sound became muffled as he carefully replaced the heavy wooden door and slowly descended the rope ladder leading to the lower level of the ship. It was darker down here, and measurably quieter, although he still heard the merrymaking of the deck quite loudly. Turning to his right, he walked the length of the ship and paused before knocking on the final door, then pushing it open.

The first thing he noticed was how contrastingly light this room was; there were two wooden walls, one curved, which was peppered with portholes. There was also a light blue curtain separating this part of the room from another, unseeable, section. The walls were lined with rickety shelves complete with makeshift barriers to prevent the various jars and phials of liquid and plant matter and ointment from sliding off. There were cupboards, too, lining the walls, and along one curved edge was a long sofa-esque thing; more like a padded bench than anything else.

"Hello?" called Edmund, grimacing at the pain in his lip. On one wall was a small mirror and he caught sight of himself, just briefly, and started at his reflection. Still dripping wet, with a chunky, split lip dripping blood over his chin; his white shirt was stained with blood already.

"Coming!" Through the curtain stepped a girl, dressed lightly in a purple velvet dress. She had long dark hair, and dark eyes, and (Edmund saw once she faced him fully) she was really rather pretty. Her dress, too, showed off a figure attractive to a boy of his age, and there was a brief struggle in which he forced his eyes to meet hers.

Upon seeing him, her eyes widened. "Oh – hello. I don't – I don't believe I know you."

Edmund shook his head. "I just, ah, arrived. I came under unforeseeable circumstances." He stuck out a hand, which she shook. "Edmund."

"Edmund." Her face contorted into a frown of concentration. "Your name sounds rather familiar."

"Well, I'm more commonly known around here as, ah, Edmund the Just," he explained, scratching the back of his neck with one hand.

"Oh! Oh, my go-you're the _king_?" she gasped, and for reasons unknown to Ed, pulled back her hand as though it had been burned. "I'm, ah, sorry."

"For what?" he frowned slightly.

"For, uh, not getting to work on your lip soon enough. Please, have a seat, your majesty; I won't be a minute, sir." Almost tripping over herself in haste she stumbled back through the curtain and, bemused, Edmund sat down.

"What did you say your name was?" he called through the curtain.

"Eni," she murmured back distractedly.

"_Eni?_"

"Yes. Sorry." She was back through the curtains, now, with a large jar of creamy blue ointment. "If you could sit, still, your Highness, this may sting a little for which I'm very sorry."

Edmund was about to open his mouth to tell her to address him by his first name; however, he decided to cooperate and obediently sat still, as she knelt down beside the bed and unscrewed the lid of the jar. Dipping in her fingers, she leaned forward and gently dabbed a little of the stuff onto his broken lip. Wincing in pain, he exhaled sharply and she mumbled a nervous apology.

"It's quite alright," he replied, watching her out of the corner of his eye. She looked pale and drawn, and regarded him as some sort of wild animal that would leap out and attack her at any minute. "There's no need to look so - afraid."

"Yes, sir," she muttered without looking him in the eye. He sighed.

"Call me Edmund, please. Eni."

She glanced up at him and he chanced a smile, to which she replied nervously, but with less of the acrid fear of before. "You'll need to stay put for just a minute or so. Would you like to clean your chin? Perhaps a new shirt?"

"Yeah, that would be great."

"Just a second." She pulled open the door and stepped out into the dark underbelly of the ship, leaving him alone. He leaned his head against the wall and waited, brain replaying sadistically the fear he'd seen in her face.

Presently she was back in the room, with a cloth damp with water (_"fresh water"_, she assured him) and a large, clean, white shirt he assumed to be Caspian's. To his surprise she leaned over him uninvited and began to dab at his chin, careful not to knock the lip. When this was done she handed him the shirt and, blushing, turned the other way.

He changed quickly and slightly nervously, and when the shirt was safely on he thanked her. "Wouldn't you like to come up to the deck?"

She half-smiled. "Well, I've mostly finished what I was going to do today – the sorting-out of herbs and whatnot."

Ed smiled; pulled open the door. "After you."

"Thank you, your Highness."

They walked down the length of the boat in silence, and when Eni began to ascend the rope ladder, Edmund forced himself to look down at his feet. Finally they were both back on deck, and almost immediately Caspian fell on Edmund with open arms, shepherding the younger boy into the cabin where his sister and the captain awaited.

"See you, Eni."

"Bye," she muttered.

As Caspian pulled him away, already chattering, Edmund glanced behind him and caught her eyes. They were wide with a cocktail of what looked like nervousness and something else – something far, far, stronger – that he couldn't put his finger on. Then she was pulled into a conversation with one of the younger members of the crew, (whom Edmund noticed she spoke to warmly and openly) and the moment was lost.

Edmund looked out to sea.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for the 3 follows and the favourite, as well as all the views! A couple of reviews would be awesome! Also, I'm not 100% sure where this is going but hopefully it will roughly follow the events in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie. NOT ALL DIALOGUE WILL BE EXACTLY THE SAME!**

**Disclaimer (because I forgot to last time): I own nothing but Eni!**

**Enjoy :)**

In the couple of days that followed, Eni didn't see the tall, dark and handsome Just King. Well, that wasn't strictly true. She clapped eyes on him plenty of times – while they were eating, relaxing on deck – but no more than any other member of the crew she'd spent so long with. That, however, wasn't quite the same as their first, relatively nervous, encounter within her quarters; she wasn't sure, now, Ed's feelings towards her, and so had successfully avoided all contact, even eye contact, even during the (rather riveting) swordfight he'd had with Prince Caspian. However the fateful yell of "Land ahoy!" changed this enormously.

She'd been sitting at the head of the ship, legs curled beneath her, eyes half-closed, enjoying the feel of the sun on her face and the wind in her hair, when they words were called, and even then she didn't react much. She heard Caspian, Edmund and the captain talk in nervous, hushed whispers, but hardly even bothered to open her eyes. She would usually have been called out on one of these expeditions (as well as her main role of healer, she was decent with a sword and passable with her fists), but she assumed that with the new arrivals her presence wouldn't be required. It was only when her voice was muttered by the Prince that she zoned in, twisting her head slightly to listen.

"Eni should be on the boat, too."

"Eni?" Eustace (the King and Queen's irritating relative) put in. "Isn't she just that nurse girl? What's the point in bringing her along?"

Eni bristled.

"Ah, well, she's good with her hands," Caspian replied, then laughed at something Eni couldn't see. "Not like _that_, Ed! Wow, you really have grown up since I last saw you!"

The group laughed, and Eni looked round to see that the blush on Edmund's face matched her own.

"Anyway, I'm sure she's ten times more useful than you, _cousin_," the Just King snapped out at Eustace, who began spluttering with indignation, much to the amusement of the group. Finally, Caspian called her over and, grabbing her tarnished but well-loved dagger, she stepped down into the longboat, trying to hide the fact she'd overheard the whole exchange.

Placed next to Lucy, the two struck up quite a pleasant conversation about Narnia and the inhabitants of the ship. Eni was glad to talk to another female for once; being the only girl on the ship took its toll, and, much as she hated to admit it, she longed for more company of her own sex. The journey from the ship wasn't long, but presently the conversation moved round to Lucy's brother, and Eni could tell the girl had been waiting to speak about him for a while.

"I think Ed likes you," Lucy whispered in her ear, and at that very moment, the boy himself (who was at the opposite end of the boat, facing them) glanced at Eni and quickly looked away, the hint of a blush playing on his cheeks. Lucy pealed with laughter, and leaned back over, Edmund watching them. "Actually, forget that – I know Ed likes you."

Edmund had steadily been growing redder through the exchange, and his brow furrowed at the giggling, whispering girls that repeatedly glanced his way. "Whatever hilarious lies she's feeding you about me, Eni, ignore them," he called. Caspian looked over and sniggered.

Presently they arrived at shore, and immediately the jovial mood was dimmed. It was painfully quiet, and shivers ran down Eni's spine as the group disembarked, their footsteps arrogantly loud. They tied their boats into a grey stone wilderness, scattered with the wreckage of what looked to be a great battle, and even Reepicheep, bounding through the area in his usual enthusiastic style, couldn't bring back the elation of the boat journey.

Entering through the boundaries of the great city, Eni saw that inside, too, was the wreckage of a battle ground. On slightly shaky legs she followed Caspian, Edmund and Lucy (the rest had peeled away – to do what, she wasn't sure) while Eustace brought up the rear. The simple act of walking seemed to cause a terrible din and the shivers down her spine would not stop. Glancing around her one more time, she hurried to catch up with the royals.

It wasn't long before the group reached the great wooden doors of what looked to be an abandoned church of some sort. Eustace stumbled up behind them as Eni tipped her head back, back, back to the huge old bell tower far above. There was a pause in which the five of them simply stared up at the ancient building; then Caspian broke the silence.

"We had better go in."

There was a pause, then Eustace babbled, "I don't think that would be the best idea. Let's go back to the ship."

Edmund, always eager to pick a fight with his cousin, rounded on him with sharp, dark eyes, but then paused. "How about you – stay here and guard something?"

Eustace nodded, trying to look important, and caught the weapon Caspian threw to him. Edmund then, with some difficulty, pulled on one of the large wrought-iron rings that held the entrance to the church, and the huge door swung open. It was dark inside – not completely, but enough to hold a definite contrast to the light of day – and a musty smell hit the group square in the face. Taking a deep breath, Caspian entered first, closely followed by Lucy. Edmund nodded his head inside, raising his eyebrows briefly. "After you."

"You know, I think Eustace could use some company," Eni said quietly, eyes flicking from Edmund to Eustace. "Go on ahead. I'll be outside."

The King inclined his head, just once. "Well, look after yourself. You need anything, just…call me."

Eni nodded, and stepped away from the door, watching it swing shut.

She and Eustace leaned against the wall nonchalantly for a couple of seconds, before the serious boy broke the silence. "My cousin is so pathetic."

"Who? Edmund?"

"Fawning all over you. _You need anything, just call me._ It makes me sick."

Eni had absolutely no idea how to respond, so she half-nodded and gazed out over the ruined landscape. "I hope they're back soon, though."

"Well, you know. I could protect you, if anything bad happened."

Eni resisted the urge to laugh, instead distracting herself by examining Eustace's strange choice of clothing "That's a nice jumper you have there." It was hideous.

"Thanks. My mum knitted it for m-"

Eustace broke off, his voice seemingly muffled. For a split second Eni's brain was blank, and then, swinging her head to the right, she saw Eustace being smothered by an unfamiliar man. As ever in moments of panic, she merely regarded the scene for a few milliseconds, her traitorous brain ticking it over with only a mild interest, and then her instincts snapped back home. In a few seconds she'd covered the couple of metres between them and punched the stranger square in the nose.

He recoiled, taking his hand off Eustace's mouth and swearing incomprehensibly, and it was only then that she saw the small but dangerous-looking dagger in his hand. Leaping towards it, she felt something collide with her stomach and she was thrown back and into some crumbled stone pillar behind. Eustace squealed. First there was pain, and she screwed up her face, squinted in a vain attempt to distract herself. Second there was the sensation of something very cold and very sharp being pressed against her neck, and breathing fast, she looked down to see a dagger, then looked up to see a very brutal-looking man holding it.

"Get up," he said gruffly and she struggled to comply. "And drop the knife."

This Eni thought half a second about, but then reluctantly let the blade slip from her fingers onto the ground below. Breathing heavily Eni was escorted over to the church. She struggled to keep her eyes off the blade, which glinted threateningly in the watery daylight.

"Sorry, Eustace," she mumbled as her captor pulled open the church door and shoved them inside.

The scene within forced all hope which had previously resided within her down to a minimum. Edmund, Lucy and Caspian, although armed, were utterly surrounded with similar-looking bandits to the ones that had captured her and Eustace, and everyone in the room turned to look at them.

"Sorry," Eni gasped through the dagger at her throat; immediately the man holding her snarled "Shut up!" and momentarily dug the blade a little deeper into her neck. Gagging in pain, Eni clamped her mouth shut.

"Drop your weapons, or they get it," said the man holding Eustace gruffly, at the same time as Edmund said, "Don't worry about it, Eni," and, grudgingly, three swords clanked onto the cold stone floor.

Almost at once the men surrounding the royals leaped forwards and grabbed them; they struggled in vain. Edmund in particular fell victim to a particularly nasty punch that left his nose bleeding and lower lip re-split (here Eni fought the automatic irritation at the thought that she would have to reapply the precious lotion to it). However all three were soon in similar positions to Eustace and Eni; namely, completely helpless and at the mercy of whatever band of hooligans had kidnapped them.

The man holding Eustace seemed to be evaluating the five victims, and he murmured to himself as he examined them. Finally, "Those two," (he indicated to Edmund and Caspian) "To the dungeon; the rest we can sell off."

"What?" Eni breathed despite of herself, as she began being dragged over to a dark doorway along one wall of the church.

"They're slave drivers," called Edmund breathlessly, "We saw the records." His voice raised to address Lucy and Eustace as well, even as he was being pulled roughly in a different direction. "Don't worry! We'll find you! It's all going to be okay!"

Eni was frightened to see the fear on the ever-calm Lucy's face as they were separated, and terrified when the Queen began yelling her brother's name. "Edmund! Edmund!"

"Lucy! Don't worry, it's going to be okay. It'll all be okay!" he yelled, before his voice was cut off sharply via a blow to the head. The last thing Eni saw was his pale, frightened face – his eyes staring into hers, and his lips mouthing the words _we'll find you._


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hope you enjoy!**

Eni didn't care to relate the next couple of hours of endless poking, prodding, yanking, tying and untying, and general abuse she suffered at the hands of the slave drivers. Also subjected to this injustice were Lucy, Eustace and about half a dozen other men and women; Eni didn't know if this made her feel better or worse. At least she wasn't seriously injured, she thought as she sat on the hot dusty ground, squinting, her hands and neck tied to the wall behind her in shackles.

Suddenly, a cart drawn by two horses veered around the corner of the large stone building they were chained to. Screwing up her eyes, she quickly saw the cart was filled with the most chilling load – people. They were dirty, and dusty, and seemingly as exhausted as the line of new slaves that watched the cart's progress. Suddenly, a shout made her head twist (the iron shackle made her wince in pain, here) and a man, covered in dust, eyes desperate, raced after the cart.

There was a murmur of discontent as, still yelling, reached out to grab the hand of a shaking, pale woman, batting off a couple of guards who tried to grab at his clothing. Then, to add another sickening dimension to the scene, a little girl, no older than nine (just five years younger than Eni), dressed innocently in a long pink gown, ran after the two, calling "Mummy! Mummy!" with such fear it made Eni's heart break. There was a collective gasp as the man was knocked to the ground by a slave driver; Eni heard Eustace inhale sharply beside her. "Don't worry! I'll find you!" called the man, languishing on the ground as his daughter raced up, gasping, and grabbed him.

As they watched, the people in the cart were dragged roughly into long boats, not dissimilar to the ones the crew of the Dawn Treader had arrived in. Pushed forcefully out to sea, the people in the boats were distressed, although Eni didn't know why. Swinging from left to right, the boat rocked with the fear of its passengers. As if in a fairy tale, the sky grew dark; thunder erupted, and what Eni saw next chilled her bones in a way the slave drivers never could.

As the ocean grew darker, an odd green mist rose from its depths; smoky and obnoxious it floated on the water, always within the gathering shadow. The boats were swept ominously towards the smog; as they neared the stuff seemed to grow a more solid quality. Eni swore she heard whispers emerging from it as it raced across the water, towards the boats. Then, suddenly, the people or their small wooden prison were no longer visible; for one terrible moment there was nothing but sickly green, dominating the ocean, then just as quickly it dispersed and the sky re-brightened. Except one thing was missing.

The boat full of people.

There was a collective pause as everyone in the dusty square watched the ocean, then the slave-drivers kicked into action and Eni, breathing deeply, was yanked to her feet and, while the others were assembled into a sort of line, she was dragged up onto a podium, still chained. Appallingly, the slave driver began to talk.

"Here we have a very fine specimen of a young woman! She can cook, she can clean, and my, my, isn't she beautiful?"

There was a collective jeer, and Eni's eyes began to sting at the looks on the faces of the crowd before her. She blinked rapidly as the people began to call out numbers, which got gradually more extortionate, before –

"Two hundred!"

"Two hundred!" echoed the slave driver, "Any advance on two hundred? Going, going, gone!"

As a chalkboard with the word _sold_ scrawled on it was hung unceremoniously around her neck, Eni looked around the square desperately. Then, to her left, she saw a metal grate – a window – and looking through it, Edmund. She looked at her feet, blinking rapidly, a blush of shame rising in her cheeks. She heard the clink of coins then felt herself being dragged off the stage and replaced by Lucy.

Eni watched as Lucy was sold to a spectacularly ugly man in an equally ugly toga, and pulled off the stage to stand next to her. Lucy looked at Eni and smiled bravely – the latter returned the smile, eyes empty.

Finally it was Eustace's turn to be sold – however, not a single person in the square appeared to be interested. The slave driver spouted some drivel, at one point even pulling up Eustace's shirt to demonstrate his 'fantastic' muscles. Eni couldn't help but half-smile as Eustace's indignant voice drifted into her ears, no doubt arguing with someone. Suddenly she became aware that something was happening, and looked up just at the moment that the captain of the Dawn Treader – and plenty of the crew, too – lifted hoods from their faces and drew weapons.

"For Narnia!" Eni had never been so glad to hear anything in her life. A grin cracked her face as the battle began; it was clear that the crewmen would win – they far outnumbered the opposition. For a few seconds she felt helpless, listening to the shouts of angry men and steely _clink_s of metal on metal. Then, she felt a presence on her shoulder, and almost immediately Reepicheep was in front of her, slicing through her handcuffs in one fluid movement. Pulling a wooden board from a nearby table she successfully brained a nearby slave driver and, considering her debt to the battle paid off, retired to the shade to watch.

The fight was ruthless and violent; however very few Narnians were even injured due to the fact the villagers decided to run from their homes to battle the men that had oppressed them so vigorously. Presently it was over; and the crew of the Dawn Treader walked through a tunnel of cheering townspeople, smiling. Eni skulked at the back, feeling little like a hero, but instead watched the backs of Caspian, Edmund and Lucy walk towards the water, arms raised in celebration. As they passed through the buildings she managed to recover the dagger she'd dropped and she held it tightly.

Suddenly, there was a disturbance as the man they'd seen earlier ran up to the captain and began speaking. Eni was too far off to hear the conversation; but she saw quickly that the man had been accepted into the crew and he walked with them, towards the boats. As they neared the shore, Eni saw Caspian presented with an ancient, barnacle-encrusted sword, and paused to watch the exchange, her body folded across the stone barrier of the runway leading down to the sea.

"I haven't seen you around."

Eni looked to her right, surprised. Amidst the cheering crowd was a boy, a little older than her – blonde, tanned, and muscular, face split in an easy grin.

"Oh – I work on the Dawn Treader," she smiled, casting one eye back to where Caspian was still conversing with the old man.

"Shame," the boy frowned. Then he smiled again. "I would have _really_ liked to get to know you."

Eni blushed, and then giggled, smiling at him. The sun was warm and he was handsome; her mind was gooey with victory. "Well thank you very much. Eni," she stuck out her hand.

He shook it. "Lucas. I hope we meet again, Miss Eni."

"As do I," Eni replied, the elated mood coaxing another laugh from her. She glanced down at the docks, and saw with sudden horror that everyone save for her was in the boats; almost every pair of eyes was trained on her now-blushing face. "Oh God – sorry!" she called over, and then turned to Lucas.

"Bye, then."

"Goodbye, Eni. See you soon!" He grinned, and, without warning, took her hand and kissed it, softly, then glanced into her eyes. Face flushing red, she scampered down and clambered into the nearest boat – the spot in which she'd positioned herself was between Edmund and Lucy.

As the boat began gliding across the water, she looked to her right and saw Edmund staring at her, expression furious. She must have looked alarmed, because he quickly rearranged his features into a slightly more positive correlation; however his eyes were still dark. "Did you know him?" he asked, trying to seem nonchalant. Eni felt Lucy straining to listen in.

"N-no, your Highness," she said, and noticed with an amount of frustration her nervousness in the presence of the royals was fast returning. "He – he was a little odd, actually. I didn't much like him."

"How so? Did he hurt you?" The King's voice rose steadily, although Eni could tell he was fighting to keep it level.

"No, no, nothing like that, sir. If you want to know someone that hurt me, try the slave drivers," she said, a poor attempt at humour – although this just made Edmund's face grow darker.

There was a brief pause, which Edmund broke. "I saw you. Being – sold."

"Oh." Eni laughed nervously. She had absolutely no idea how to respond. Then she began gabbling. "I'm really, really sorry, your Highness, but they just came on Eustace, like that, no warning, and I tried to punch the man but then he knocked me backwards and I smashed into a rock and I couldn't really think and then there was a knife at my throat and I'm really, really sorry for getting you all into trouble. Truly, I'm really sorry."

Eni became chillingly aware that her voice had become the only sound in the boat – the chatter amongst the rowers and fell silent. She didn't dare to look sideways at Edmund's face, but saw, out of her peripheral, his jaw tighten, and she braced herself for his anger.

"It wasn't your fault, Eni. There was nothing that could be done," he said stiffly, and she peeked at him out of the corner of her eye. He was staring out to sea, expression unreadable. However she had no time to dwell on it as they had arrived at the ship; she was glad to clamber out of the narrow, rocking boat and get back onto the Dawn Treader.

It had been a long couple of hours tending to the wounds of the numerous injured (Edmund had been perfectly polite but nothing more) and Eni had just sat down in her usual place on the deck – a secluded corner with a barrel to sit on. Out of the blue, Lucy walked over and sat down on the wooden slats of the floor. Automatically Eni stood up to offer the Queen the barrel to sit on – Lucy, however, declined, and so the healer nervously sat down.

"Don't worry about Ed."

"Hm?" Eni looked down at Lucy, who was looking out to sea.

"Edmund. My insufferable brother. He blames himself for everything, and he blames himself that you got caught. That exchange with Blondie on the shore, he takes as a personal offence to his protection skills."

Eni took a moment to digest this. "I thought he was angry at me?"

Lucy looked up at her and smiled, shaking her head. "You've seen the way he looks at you! Of course he's not angry at you. He's angry at the slave drivers, at the blonde boy, and at himself."

Breathing in and out, Eni crossed her legs beneath her. The sky was just darkening and the air had grown cool; goose bumps threatened. "Oh, good," she said faintly.

"And you know that whole…thing you do," Lucy continued.

"Thing?"

"The nervy thing. The 'your Highness' thing. Drives him nuts."

"Drives him nuts how?"

"I've already told you," Lucy breathed out slowly and unfolded her legs, tipping her head back to look at the sky. "He's a protector. And you are _ridiculously_ vunerable."

Eni bristled a little. "I'm okay with a sword! And I can fight. Not amazingly, but I'm good enough."

"Ed doesn't know that. And if he did, he could choose to ignore it." Lucy laughed. "My advice is: just don't be surprised at anything he does."

Eni half-laughed at this, and they sat in silence for a few seconds before Prince Caspian hollered her name, and she was whisked away to work again.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** **Nearly 240 views and over 100 reads! That's crazy, thanks guys! Follows, favourites and especially reviews are also much appreciated!**

**Enjoy!**

"Ed!"

Edmund Pevensie, Just King of Narnia, was reclining on deck, enjoying the taste of salt on his tongue when he heard Lucy's familiar tones calling him over. She yelled his name so that _Ed_ was stretched playfully into a two-syllable word, and, sighing, he swung his legs off the edge of the chest he'd been half-lying on and walked over to his sister. She stood at the highest point of the ship, with Caspian, and the two watched his annoyed ascent to meet them.

"Ed, Caspian has an idea," Lucy said quickly, and the Prince quickly countered, "It was your idea!"

"Okay, fine, _we_ have an idea," his sister continued, mock-glaring at Caspian. "Back at the Lone Islands, we saw that some – not all, but some – of the crew are just a little bit under-developed in the fighting area."

"Namely, your cousin," Caspian interjected. "But there are others who could use a little more experience with swords and such."

"Like Gresham." Edmund pulled a crew member's name from thin air.

"Yeah. Or Eni," Lucy said, carefully watching his face for any tell-tale signs of emotion. Edmund was proud at this point that he managed not to thump his sister.

"There are quite a few that could do with some more training," the Prince put in, sensing a squabble on the horizon. "And that's where you come in, Edmund. We're both willing to put in a little time to help teach some other members of the crew to handle their weapons a little better, but the job'll be easier if you're helping, too."

Edmund weighed the idea in his mind for half a second before nodding sharply. "Sure. I'm in."

"Told you he would be," grinned Lucy, addressing Caspian, who let a smile grace his features; however this disappeared quickly when he saw the expression on the King's face.

"Let's get down to work then," Edmund muttered, turning away and casting his eyes down onto the deck.

"Frey! Pallas! Evander! Eni! Rhince! Eustace!" barked Caspian, walking along the assembled line of crew members. They were a ragtag bunch; a diverse mixture of human and animal, mostly grown men but with Eni in her white shirt and brown trousers, and Eustace in his (now very grubby) yellow jumper. They stood to attention as Caspian, in the fashion of a true leader, began to speak.

"You are here because you need just a little more work on your combat skills," he said gruffly. "That does not mean you are inadequate – you're all" (his eyes clapped on Eustace) "Well, almost all great members of the crew, and we wouldn't trade you for anything." He paused as most of the men gave a masculine cheer. "Myself, Lucy and Edmund are just going to give you a little extra coaching – after all, we have plenty of time and resources. So if you could split off into partners and assign a pair to each of us – yeah, that's fine-"

Edmund watched as Eustace with uncharacteristic speed leaped over to Eni and quickly declared himself her partner; fiddling with his sword, he waited to see who would attach themselves to him. Beside him Lucy was already chattering away to a duo of the man from Narrowhaven (whose wife had been taken by the fog) and a minotaur.

"Cousin!"

With a range of emotions he turned to meet the eyes of Eustace. Two days away from civilisation had not done his beloved relative any good physically or mentally, and Edmund had a certain degree of fear that Eustace would go native on them. However beside him was Eni. Each held a small training sword.

Edmund cleared his throat and looked around at Cas and Lucy, both of whom were already demonstrating techniques to their spellbound audiences. "Right. Okay." He held up his sword (well, Peter's sword) and asked, "Eustace, you know nothing. Eni, how good are you with a sword?"

"I'm decent," she said.

He exhaled nervously. "Okay, then. I guess I should start with…"

"Show us how to stick someone with it," Eustace said impatiently.

"It's not all about _sticking someone with it_," said Edmund impatiently. "It's an _art_."

"That's rubbish and you know it. If you're in a fight, you just want to stick someone with it," Eustace sniffed pompously.

"And you would know…"

"Stop fighting, you two!" Lucy called over.

"Shut up, Eustace," Edmund said importantly. "So, when the fight begins, you're going to want to take up one of two roles; attack or defence." He paused, but didn't hear a single word leave his cousin's throat. Somewhat heartened, he continued. "Basically – either you're trying to stab them with the sword, or you're blocking them from stabbing you with the sword."

Eni nodded. Eustace had made an effort to look disinterested.

"In a fight, usually, you want to be attacking as much as you can, or else you might eventually get tired of blocking and slip up. So sort of try to lunge in and attack them – aiming for the stomach is your best bet – as many times as you can. But don't forget to block them, too."

"You're a terrible teacher," said Eustace matter-of-factly.

Edmund was inclined to agree. Instead he decided, "Fine. You learn more by doing than saying, anyway. Let's take it in turns to fight."

"What, like – right now?" Eustace asked, paling considerably. "But I don't know _how!_ You haven't taught me!"

"You'll pick it up. Step aside, Eni, wouldn't want you to be stabbed," Edmund said, and Eni obediently moved to a safe vantage point elsewhere.

"Swords up!" Eustace shakily lifted his blade. "Three. Two. One."

Eustace clumsily lunged forward, stabbing blindly; Edmund blocked the sword easily. It took less than five seconds before the King's blade was at his cousin's neck.

"Again!" Edmund stepped back. "Three – two –"

Without waiting for the countdown to end, Eustace stepped forwards and stabbed at his cousin, who blocked easily and dodged out of the way. It was clear to anyone watching that the Just King could have easily overpowered Eustace; but Edmund simply blocked clumsy shot after clumsy shot, moving backwards, taking the fight to higher ground. Eustace swung and staggered with the weight of the weapon, surging forwards all at once while Edmund yelled uselessly, "Lighter! Quicker! Be more nimble!" Finally, after a couple of minutes, Edmund grew bored and easily placed the tip of the sword at the base of Eustace's throat. The crew applauded, and Edmund, smiling, mock-bowed.

There followed a number of similar 'battles', during which Eustace grew more and more infuriated until he finally threw down his sword and, grumbling, admitted defeat. Striding back over to their starting position, the Just King called, "Eni?" She had been perched up on a barrel (of what Edmund didn't know), watching the fight eagerly. As she slid off and came to stand before him, Edmund was aware that almost the entire crew was watching, including Caspian and his sister. His bloody sister! She'd been whispering and giggling whenever he and Eni came within five feet of each other; it was more than a little annoying. Grumpily Eustace wandered off to a safe point to watch the fight. Eni readied herself in front of him.

"Swords up. Three. Two. One."

Eni was certainly better than Eustace. Edmund still blocked her every move with a degree of ease but she was far more accurate, far quicker, and she had far smoother movements – none of the flailing desperation his cousin had fought with. They fought again and again, Edmund always blocking and blocking and blocking until the battle came to its inevitable conclusion; Eni ended up with his sword at her throat.

"Three. Two. One."

Edmund walked backwards; this time, unlike the others, they progressed up a short flight of stairs, until they were at the helm of the boat, wind whipping at their hair and clothes. As he absentmindedly blocked her sword he noticed how pretty she looked when she concentrated.

Should he end the battle yet? He would have easily been able to slip his blade to her throat, but would that be too harsh? Slowly he began to interject in with his own stabs, increasing gradually in speed and accuracy, and quickly he was in control, forcing her to step backwards until she was cornered at the head of the boat. She still fought vigorously, although by now she struggled to block his shots, growing more desperate as he closed the few feet between them. Finally, in a split second they were just a few inches apart and his blade was tucked neatly below her chin as though it had been there forever.

There was a long pause – a couple of seconds at least – in which they stared into each other's eyes, and the only sounds were those of the waves lapping against the ship, and their own exhausted gasps. The corner of her mouth jerked up beautifully into a half-smile, which Edmund returned. Then, so quickly he only knew what had transpired afterwards, she kicked the back of his legs, causing him to fall flat on his back on the ground. Neatly catching the sword that had fallen from his fingers she looked down at him, eyes bright, giggling breathily, and the entire crew erupted into uproarious laughter. "That wasn't fair!" Edmund protested as a crowd began to gather and someone helped him up. "It was a _sword_fight!"

"Ah, all's fair in love and war." Eni pretended to examine the blade of his sword before handing it back to him.

"And which was that?" teased, and the crowd laughed again.

"Sorry, Ed, that was a little harsh. Everyone here knows you would thrash me in a real swordfight," Eni murmured, and held out her hand to her duelling partner. He took it and they shook firmly for a few seconds, still elated with adrenaline.

"It was certainly surprising," Edmund replied, eyes twinkling.

"Ah, I'm full of surprises." She laughed – a musical sound - and parted the crowd to return to her medicinal lair, but not before turning back and (when the crew had gone back to their work) smiling so prettily at Edmund he was sure if he died, right there, he would die happy.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait! This has actually been sitting on my computer for weeks, I kept meaning to edit it a little but never really got round to it :S well here you go, i have another chappie waiting on my laptop so review your little hearts out! :D**

That evening, the Dawn Treader and its crew decided to spend the night on a seemingly-uninhabited island. As the great beast rolled over the waves towards the lush forests and brilliant golden sand of the place, the sky was almost dark, having changed softly from a baby-blue to a deep, brilliant purple through which stars emerged. It was late when, finally, the ship had been moored, the fire built, and the crew settled, and so the group drifted easily into sleep.

Eni had been half-forced (by Lucy) to lay down her wicker blanket and set up camp between her and the new girl, Gail. Gail had rather excitingly stowed away on the ship, following her father (who had been the very man whose wife was lost to the green mist back in Narrowhaven), and now in a frighteningly mother-hen-esque style, the young Queen had taken the child under her wing. Laid out between great stone moss-covered boulders, the group was spread relatively far, but Eni could still see Edmund, eyes closed, facing the stars. And, more irritatingly, she could hear Eustace – or perhaps it was a native island pig.

"Wake up. Wake up!"

Eni had slept fitfully, due in equal measures to the unfamiliar air and light, the uncomfortable sand, and Eustace; this early-morning disturbance annoyed her greatly. However, when she saw Edmund lean over her, urgency evident in his features, ignoring the throbbing in her temple, she scrambled up and looked around.

The sky was light, now, and the first thing she noticed was a disturbing lack of Lucy beside her. Her fears were confirmed when she heard Edmund calling "Lucy? Lucy!" Grabbing Gail's hand, she followed the rest of the crew as they stumbled across the sand and into the forest. What were they following? Glancing down, she saw with a twist of horror something even the boots of all the men before her couldn't rub out – giant footprints.

"Stay back, Eni," Edmund called, and she felt a brief surge of annoyance at his babying. However, staying in the shadows for the sake of the little girl beside her, Eni watched through a sleep-deprived haze as the men assembled in what looked oddly like some rich child's garden. Swirling up from the ground were a myriad of bushes cut into unusual shapes; cones and spheres, and swirling patterns that were a miracle of architecture simply due to the fact they stood. Eni saw, with some confusion, large sticks being waved around in the air, and, unexplainably, members of the crew stabbing at nothing and falling over of their own accord.

"What are you?" she heard Caspian call, and, creeping nearer the battle scene, she heard the reply.

"Big ones. With the head of a tiger and the body of a…" spoke a gruff voice, seemingly from nowhere.

"Different tiger!" put in a higher (but still invisible) voice.

"You don't want to mess with us!" called another.

As they spoke, however, these creatures slowly faded into vision. And they certainly weren't hybrid tigers. What looked like tiny men – one held up two others – with a single leg and one, giant foot came into vision, hopping around erratically. There were a few moments as they creatures babbled, still jumping about, and the crew, shell-shocked, remained absolutely silent. Finally, Eni couldn't bear it – she let out a single giggle, and suddenly the men exploded into uproarious laughter.

"What've you done with my sister, you little pipsqueak?" Edmund snarled, emerging from the crowd and placing the tip of his sword at the base of one of the little men's throats.

"N-now, calm down-"

"Where is she?!"

"In the mansion," sighed the creature, quite absurdly, as although the field of hedges looked like a garden, there was no building in sight.

"What mansion?" Edmund voiced their thoughts, but even as he spoke, a crackling light like lightning filled the air and the group glanced around as one to see, appearing just like the creatures had, a huge, stately manor.

Their awe was interrupted by Eustace, who emerged from a nearby leafy bush brushing foliage off himself. "You know, I'm really getting tired of you all leaving me behind!"

"It's the pig! The pig has returned!" called the little men.

"This place just gets weirder and weirder," muttered Eustace, which, inexplicably, made Eni give out a huge shout of laughter. This was also probably due to her light-headedness.

As if just realising she was there, the crew looked around and Edmund cracked a grin at her expression, which just made her double up even louder, face screwed up and red in an attempt to stop herself from exploding. The men watched with curiosity as her shoulders shook and her eyes squeezed hot tears of mirth, before she laughed, loudly. There was a murmur of discussion before Edmund began to snigger, too, eyes darting to and from the little men. Suddenly the group was a mass of hysteria.

The hilarity ended when, quite nonchalantly, Lucy wandered into view, accompanied by a very old-looking man, and the very important talks that Edmund, Lucy and Caspian seemed to have been having with every very old-looking man they encountered, began.

It wasn't more than a few minutes before the three were being led by the man into his mysterious vanishing mansion, and, from behind her, Eustace scurried to catch up. Looking back, Edmund caught her eye, and, much to her surprise, yelled, "Come on, Eni!"

Pleased at this sudden boost in the pecking order she followed Eustace, half-running through the grass towards the mansion, and presently they found themselves in a huge old room rife with flying books and odd, astral projections all over the walls. The old man (who Eni now knew, thanks to Lucy, to be Coriakin) unrolled a huge, ancient-looking map across the ground, and the group stood staring, transfixed. Suddenly, real as life, an island that looked uncomfortably like a human skull had replaced the vibrant imagery of the map, and the old wizard spoke darkly of nightmares and evil.

"It will make your darkest dreams come true," he said, addressing Edmund gravely, and Eni could've sworn she saw his eyes flicker towards her as the words were said.

They discussed for a little while longer all the evil of the island and the green fog that surrounded it, and then Coriakin drew attention to the sword on Edmund's belt, seemingly linking this to six Lords who possessed similar weapons. There was a blue star they had to follow, something about Aslan, something about a test, and the old man had just wrapped his speech off, indistinctly now, when Eni fell to the ground in a dead, exhausted faint.

Whoever was carrying her had very _soft_ arms. Eni faded in and out of consciousness, never once opening her eyes, but hearing snatches of conversation here and there. "She was tired…don't think she looks ill…Lucy, were you...you bloody pig, Eustace…" It was quite a nice place to be, in the arms of whoever was carrying her, but an even nicer place to be were the recesses of her own mind, and most of the time all that she experienced was a soft, comforting darkness that made her feel wonderful.

However, she had to wake eventually, and she finally jerked into consciousness as a result of a particularly violent thunderclap. "Eni!" said Edmund, rushing over, and she blinked, head throbbing, trying to make sense of where she was.

A cabin. In a hammock. One of the more generic cabins – not hers, at any rate. The boat shifted violently from side to side; Eni heard with remarkable clarity the sound of the rain beating against the porthole; lighting flashed, illuminating Edmund's fearful face above hers.

"Ed," she mumbled quietly. "I'm-"

"Don't you dare apologise," he said, quietly, a hint of anger in his voice. "It was that bloody Eustace's fault, he was snoring like a devil the whole night, you must have been exhausted, that's why you fainted, but you hit your head pretty hard. It was a stone floor," he was half-hissing now.

"Ed, Ed, it's fine, really." She sat up, wincing, and gingerly touched the tips of her fingers to the right side of her head, which seemed to be the focusing point of the pain. "I'm okay. Where am I?"

"It's – it's my cabin," he murmured, then added defensively, "The nearest to the trapdoor!"

"Was it you who carried me here?" she asked; when he nodded, she rounded it off by saying, "You have really soft arms."

Edmund ran his hands through his hair. "Thanks. The important thing is; you're okay. Now, I'm no healer, but you should be right as rain after another good long sleep – you were out the whole day, you know, it's night time now, so just relax, and-"

"Edmund, it's okay. There's a lot of shouting," Eni said vaguely, trying to collect her thoughts and compete with the pounding pain in her temple.

"Yeah, there's a pretty bad storm outside. As you may or may not be able to tell from the incessant rocking." He cracked a half-smile, but the worry still showed in his eyes.

"I've lived on the sea my whole life, Ed, I'm pretty much used to it."

"Oh?"

Eni was not in the mood to talk about her life. "I'll talk another time – I'm quite tired now…"

"Oh, right. Sorry. Sorry. Do you need anything?"

"Now who's apologising?" Already her consciousness was fading fast, but as her eyes drifted closed, she managed to twitch the corner of her mouth into a lopsided grin.

"Do you want me to get anything for you, Eni? Water? Do you need anything?" His voice was thin and strained, obviously anxious.

"Just…don't go…" she mumbled vaguely, already submitting herself to the friendly darkness that clutched at her so desperately.

"I won't. I won't," he replied. And the last thing she felt before she lost consciousness was his hand around hers, squeezing so tightly she thought he would never let go.


End file.
